9.30.2013

Raise the Roof - Dream Garage Update

I won't bore you with details again of the garage. You can read about this here and here where I previously talked about "Dream Garage" plans.

A little reminder of what it will look like once it's all done. 

It's pretty amazing to think that this all came together in under 2 months. We had about 3 weeks of waiting for the trusses to arrive and they were finally delivered last week.

So without further wait here are some updated pictures of the dream garage!


 I had a hard time fitting the entire garage in the picture **hint to family members I would really really like a wide lens for my camera for Christmas/Birthday - the only time I will ever allow you to combine my gift ;) **


 This picture was taken from about 150 ft away and because of the trees I couldn't get a snapshot of the entire garage **wide lens camera hint insert here again**


You are probably wondering..."Hey, how did she get that shot of the ceiling" Well there is a very high hill that needs to be pushed away right beside the garage. This still needs work but allows us to take some cool close ups of the trusses. Take note how you can barely see the end. 


The next phase for "Dream Garage" is to put the plywood up on the walls and order the steel roof which takes 4 days for delivery. We are hoping to have the roof completed by the end of October. 



Keep your eye out for "Dream Garage" updates!! 



9.26.2013

Princess Margaret Lottery Home with Brian Gluckstein

When you work on your own home, figuring out every last detail you hope that when somebody walks in they can see your passion for what you've built/ designed. I hope that I evoke that kind of passion Brian Gluckstein has when he gives a description of a home he's designed.

I had the opportunity to attend a small blogger social for a private viewing of the Princess Margaret Lottery Home with Brian Gluckstein

“The ultimate entertaining home with traditional and modern elements for glamorous living.” Brian Gluckstein



I haven't had many opportunities to be around people with such high importance in the design world so going to meet Brian himself I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew I would be viewing a stunning home but what I wanted was to hear the details of the build down the to nitty gritty and he provided nothing short of that.

Brian was kind; he talked to us about the small details like how the walls were tiled in the main entrance and the work behind it. "Anybody can do this, so simple!" He says.



He discussed the library room and how he had hoped that whoever took over this home would keep it that way but If not how simple it would be to turn it into a bedroom.



He praised Kohler and Miele for there kind donations.



The décor was stunning and mixed with affordable pieces from the Gluckstein line and some antiques.



He was genuinely happy that all of his hard work combined with so many different contractors would go to a great cause.



I had a quick opportunity to Thank him for the tour of the home and after a small chat he gave me some names of shops to visit in West Palm Beach when we visit. (just goes to show how down to earth he was we ended up talking about Classic Cars!)

Thank you Gluckstein Homes and Princess Margaret Home Lotto for giving me this opportunity. 

You can purchase your ticket here to have a chance at many great prizes this year!

Also, my pictures do not do this home justice....check out the amazing pictures on the website under the Oakville Home Gallery.



*Please take important note all of my picture and thoughts were my own I was in no way asked to write about my experience*

9.23.2013

BlogPodium 2013

Remember your first day of school, first night out at a big club, first day at a new job, first time meeting......a room full of strangers! I had purchased a BlogPodium ticket quickly after they came out for sale. I was determined not to miss this day of learning and networking. A day to meet so many bloggers that I had been following along for some time now and understand how I can help my little space on the internet grow, be more engaging, and become more open to the opportunities that it can provide. 

Don't get me wrong this blog will always stay true to me and why I am writing it. That is to have a memory of building our "Forever Home"

Breakfast started off by sitting with Lynne, Andrea, Casey, Robin and Alex. We had some morning chit chat got to know each other a little more. Sarah Richardson was the keynote speaker, she divulged into her personal journey into design and provided some inspiring tips.  Once this was over we headed over to our first session.

Home Depot workshop! We learned how to use some Ryobi tools and how quickly a shelf can be built.  

Andrea and Alex both won a Ryobi nail gun! Here is a blurry but stellar picture of the 2 of them! If you ladies didn't notice you were matching from head to toe including the tools and both of your names start with "A"! 



We headed to our next session which allowed us to learn more about working with Agencies. This session was held by Andrew Kinnear and Jordana Wolch from Environics Communications. Andrew and Jordana had some great tips on the process between agency/company/blogger. I believe it was great for beginner bloggers to give them an idea of how blogs are selected to work with and also to help you learn how you can stand out. Home Depot I'm available if you need me!! We've been to Home Depot probably every Sat. Night from Dec. to July. We even started calling it our date night!

After this lunch was served, we all had a chance to listen to the Key Note panel speak about "Old media, new media, social media". Everybody on the panel had great input but I especially loved hearing Margot speak. Her knowledge on magazine history really had me listening. I still love my print copies! I even made a mad dash as she was trying to leave to introduce myself. Thanks for being so kind! 

I apologize for my lack of  good quality pictures. 

The next session I attended was held by Brittany Stager, Neil Gazmen, and Meredith Heron about growing your business using social media. I have been following Brittany now for some time and had been looking forward to hearing her speak. She is so composed! Neil has such great compassion for his work and I love to see that. It makes we want to shop at West Elm even more so. Neil and Meredith had great input in regards to social media especially when it came to your personal life. 

The last session was held by Karen Bertelsen about The Art of Monetization. Karen really nailed it in this session. She was engaging, fun, and most importantly she was just real. You could sense her honesty when she was speaking and how she just wanted people to grow from the knowledge she could provide. 

The day ended off with some closing remarks and gift give away followed by a nice cocktail hour. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many people and also stepping out of my own comfort zone. 

At the end of the day I may have even been a little overwhelmed with all of the information I took home with me but my over all experience at BlogPodium was absolutely amazing! 

One last thing...we got a swag bag that contained some pretty cool stuff including a can of Para Paint white semi-gloss paint. Along with my piece of fabric from Tonic Living I have a DIY post coming up soon! If you want to see a sneak peak you can check out my Instagram feed here

Thank you to Jen and her team for setting up such a fabulous event! Take a moment and check out some amazing pictures here

9.16.2013

Blogpodium Ready & Gluten Free Expo Review

First things first I must talk about the business cards my sister designed for me!

My sister will be attending Blogpodium as well, she is an up and coming graphic designer and you can check out her website here http://andreazadro.com/.

She has helped me out with pretty much everything on my blog including adding the links for twitter, bloglovin, pinterest, and my email address. I've recently joined Instagram as well I just haven't had a chance to ask her to add it onto the site yet! She has also designed the header of my blog and provided me with any tips on layout

I knew that if I asked her to design my business card she would come up with something good. She provided me a few different layouts and options before I picked the final one. She also used a company close to where she lives and had them printed and ready for me! 

(picture is blurry on purpose! I have to leave some suspense) 

I think they are perfect and fitting to me and my personality! Nothing too crazy, sparkly, or over the top. 

If you are looking for some design ideas or a graphic designer feel free to reach out to my sister you can find her on twitter @andreazadro or on her website http://andreazadro.com/



Now onto the Gluten Free Expo that was held over the weekend. My sister joined me for the day and first stop was Bunner's Bake Shop in the Junction Triangle on Dundas St. Let me tell you Bunner's Cinnamon Buns did not disappoint!!! Best gluten free baking I have tasted by far, I am even thinking about having her go and grab some for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents place.


After this we headed down town to the Gluten Free Expo. My main reason for going was to test out gluten free samples. Gluten free food is expensive and does not always taste the greatest! I have thrown out so much food and it was beginning to upset me that I had to stop buying many products for the fear that it was going to taste bad and end up in the garbage. I also thought that many vendors might have had discount pricing but that wasn't the case. Since I was fully aware of the price range for most foods I knew when and if I was getting a deal. If I knew the price range was the same as in the store I didn't buy because no point in carrying all of that food around!

Sooooo what did I buy....well not much actually but I was excited for some products that were coming out from certain companies that I rely on.

I did buy a box of these....in store they are $7.99 a box and at the expo I picked up 2 boxes for $7.99



Here is what we picked up that vendors were giving away to try...


I may or may not have already eaten a few things that didn't make it for the picture! The cost of the ticket was $12 to get in and with just the box of pasta, free coupon for a box of Erewhon cereal and small pack of pretzels(which are very tasty!) covered the cost of my ticket!

Going forward I will talk about some of my go-to gluten free snacks. I don't usually buy the cookies or granola bars as they are filled with sugar. But there are some pastas, breads, pretzels and cereals that I do enjoy.

Hope everybody had a great weekend and looking forward to seeing everybody at Blogpodium this weekend!! 

9.13.2013

Friday Dreaming - My Blog

Its been a while since I wrote one of these friends!

Today I wanted to talk about the dreams I have for this little old blog of mine.

I had lunch with a good friend on Thursday and we talked mostly about exciting and good things that are happening in our lives. We also briefly talked about my blog and I was sharing with her what I had hoped this blog would do for me(&Branko of course) but also for anybody out there who may be reading along....


1. First and fore most I will always make sure this blog stays true to me and why I am writing it. Branko and I have BIG dreams for our "Forever Home" and when we bought it I started this blog. I wanted to remember every ounce of hard work we put into that place. We had detours like big decisions we had to make on our old home, family functions, and some time to ourselves that have been included in my weekly updates on here. But mostly I want to be able to go back and remember the goals and dreams we set out for ourselves and how we worked so hard to achieve them. All of the tears, laughter, and frustrating moments.


Gotta love the 70's home decor - the first picture before we started the trasnformation

2. I do dream that anybody out there that is following along will hopefully be able to know and build faith that when you set your mind out to do something it's very achievable. Even though we put in a LOT of hard work we saved thousands and thousands of dollars. You may think well what are you doing just storing your money away and having no fun, no vacations, no rest....no we have big plans for that saved money..trust me we do. So I hope and dream that when you come here and read this....you sit back and think we can do this, we have the capability. If you are looking for fancy DIY stuff you probably won't find it here....although Alex from Northstory.ca has some really cool things going on and she writes with so much honesty or you can check out Lynne's blog at Design the Life You Want to Live she has some amazing design ideas and great blogging tips!  I have a lot to learn from these two.....but for now I will stick to my long lists, lifting drywall, and building forms for home additions.

Same view point, 2 missing walls and a gutted home waiting for new memories. 

3. The social media aspect part of blogging baffles my mind still. I hope and dream that one day I get to meet these fantastic people I have been following along. In less then 2 weeks I will be attending Blogpodium and many of them will be there. I will also learn, learn, learn how I can progress with this blog and the places I want to take it.




There you have it! I hope you continue to follow along. In the future I want to add in some Gluten Free reviews on products and also expand the Classic Cars page!


Any big dreams you have for your little space?? Please do share....

9.09.2013

Pantry Door Steal


With all of the weird weather we have been having with the combination of our laziness and needing a break from home renovating we have been enjoying the last of our summer.

Saturday was spent inside until the rain rolled over and Branko finished up some things around the old home while I picked up some groceries.

Sunday morning we woke up early to head out for Kawartha Lakes for the day to visit some friends. They have the most quaint cottage that is just so cozy and welcoming. Last weekend when we went up we had too much fun boating and sitting on the dock that I didn't have a chance to get Branko to drive to some antique places in the area.


This weekend though....I had other plans for that hubby of mine!

We still left pretty late but we had enough time to check out one of the recommended places from Lindsay's post which you can read here about some great antique locations in the cottage country of Kawartha Lakes. I had checked on the map and knew it was just 10min down the street.

I have been looking for an antique door with glass in the upper part for sometime for the pantry in the new house. I plan to frost the windows and have some wording etched on them.

"New" door for $20!!!


We also saw this...apparently the owner built it all himself.





There you have it! Our action packed weekend...oh one other thing don't forget to add me on Instagram @countrychicreno. 





9.04.2013

September Happenings - Gluten Free Expo and Blogpodium

September is shaping up to be a busy busy month!!!

First a little about me and why I would be going to a Gluten Free Expo. (http://glutenfreeexpo.ca/)

No, I am not on one of those fad diets hoping to get skinny fast, in actual fact many gluten free products contain tons of sugar!!

If you follow along on twitter you may have seen a few rants raging comments about being gluten free. Last year was a rough year for my stomach and finally we had some tests done to verify if I may have a gluten issue, low and behold the tests came back sky high! I was sent to specialist who confirmed this with some more tests and then that was it. Gluten Free was the way I had to go.

To be honest with you it hasn't been the end of world, I mean there is much more devastating things that happen to people out there.

So with that being said I am excited to be attending the Gluten Free Expo here in Toronto on Sept. 14th!





The following weekend I will be attending my first ever Blogpodium!! (http://www.blogpodium.com)

If you haven't heard about Blogpodium you can read more details on the event here

I am very much looking forward to meeting so many bloggers that I have been following along and also learn, learn, learn!!! 





If you are attending either one of these events I hope to see you around!!!